The Lighthearted Wanderer

 On a super rainy July 1st in Kyoto, my friend Kasie and I made the trek from Kobe to partake in a time-honored gaijin (foreigner) tradition--getting dressed up as maiko and have our pictures taken. The experience overall was really enjoyable. There were 3 ladies rotating between the two of us to put on our makeup, the powders, lip and eye makeup, and the super red lipstick. After that, they gave us time to choose our own kimono from a selection of about 70. There were kimono of all different colors, patterns, and fabrics. I ultimately decided on a turquoise-green kimono with white flower accent, partially because my friend decided on a pink sakura and I didn't want to clash/contrast with her, and also because I knew that the background was black and I thought that the turquoise would pop. After picking the kimono, one of the lady assistants wrapped me in a red under-kimono and tightened everything up with some ties. They she looped around a red board (for flattening the bum...

For the past two weeks, I got caught up in a whirlwind job interview process that brought me from public high school Japan to private Catholic elementary school. Before I could even unpack and settle in my room, I found myself with twenty-five new loves with very different faces and backgrounds from the loves I left back in Japan. Life in first grade is fun, so different, and really tough and full of energy :) This is my self-portrait as a princess. Someday I will have blue hair and blue lips and a pink crown.  This is our classroom, it's circus themed! 

"Why is it better to be a child of God than a prince or princess?" "You get to play around more." ;) They make me chuckle...

Since I've come back Japan, I've been looking a lot more closely at the google reader feed and twitter and Facebook feeds of articles that come my way. If I find anything interesting I'll post it and give a little tidbit I got from it...sort of like building up my American random knowledge repertoire. "Best" Cities for Singles I was mildly amused to see Redondo Beach on the list, but it looks like CNN just took the statistical view...percentage of singles and median family household income. Should those things be related? In general, they came up with the typical, "It's not the big powerhouses like New York and Los Angeles, but the cities next  to these," which is still kind of funny to me... AA youth in the 626 This totally makes me think of my buddies in Arcadia/San Gabriel Valley. It doesn't really say much but more of an explanatory feature type article. Definitely makes me wanna visit some boba and tofu soup and yum...

This month moved by so fast, and I have so much to catch up on. I know I will, I have the time, and the desire to look back on the adventure-filled last couple of weeks. Just know that I am safely at home, still a little off in my sleep schedule, but ready to adjust to life back in LA. First problem...job interview tomorrow and I'm pretty sure I packed most of my work and interview-appropriate clothes in the boxes that are currently making their way across the ocean. Whoops... 0_0

A physically exhausting day...started with cleaning my apartment, throwing out a lot of garbage, and moving my extra things to my friend's apartment nearby. I thought the day was going to turn out badly/bad karma when I brought down my first set of garbage and the garbage lady proceeded to chew me out in Japanese because I put my plastics-type garbage next to the appropriate cage as opposed to inside the cage since it was locked. I played the foreigner but I felt super guilty :( But only guilty enough that I went looking for other garbage areas without mean ladies. All of my utilities got turned off one by one and I had to pay all the month of payments I...skipped...or more precisely, didn't bother to pay because I would soon be leaving anyway. Bad karma continued as the water lady quoted me ¥901 but upon calling higher-ups realized I needed to pay for June and July -> ¥5031. I had given her ¥1001 originally, but not having enough smaller bills for it to be exact cha...

(Just because it's fun to remember...and because I got so much help from my friends, I might as well post it here in case it can help someone someday.) The teachers and students were super surprised and super excited that I spoke so much Japanese in my speech. Obviously I didn't write all, or even most, of the Japanese in this speech, but the students and teachers appreciated the gesture so much that I am really glad I just asked for help from as many Japanese-studying/speaking friends as I could.  ------------------------------------------------------------- Mina-san, konnichiwa/ohaiyogozaimasu.  Good morningeveryone!    I have been in Japan and teaching at Ikakita (my school's nickname) for one year, and it has been very enjoyable. Ima made watashi wa ichi-nen-kan Nihon ni ite, Ikakita de oshiete imashita, taihen tanoshikatta desu. It's a shame that I have to leaveIkakita. Ikakita o sarukoto ni nari, zannen desu. Kocho-sensei, Kyoto-sense...